The script is Cyrillic, and it might be a good idea to learn to read it a little bit, for city and street signs and such.

Hitching is slightly easier in the South because the motorway Sofia-Plovdiv is a part of the main route from Western and Central Europe to Istanbul. There are usually many TIR drivers on this road who are willing to have some company. Do not get surprised if some of them - driving long distances from Western Europe to Turkey, and similar - ask you to take off your shoes when you are in a driver's cabin, or shows you photos of their family, etc. Quite a few drivers who would pick up hitchhikers are those who used to hitchhike themselves back in the socialist regime days. They will often feel nostalgic about the time they spent on the road, and will be happy to share their adventure stories with you, or let you tell them about your trip(s).

Hitchhiking is highly popular in the summer and is so common along the seaside that you can find yourself competing with other hitchhikers. Be aware, also, there are hardly any roads where hitchhiking would be prohibited, and so you might try hitchhiking on Bulgarian "motorways", which is most definitely the fastest way to get around.

Hitchhiking is also practiced and known in Bulgarian mountainous areas, especially around the Rhodope Mountains (Rodopi, or Rodopa) where there are very few cars but the ones that drive by usually stop.

Cities

Safety

Danger!

As friendly as they can be, Bulgarian drivers usually don't consider small violations of existing road regulations and speed limits in Bulgaria a big deal. Be careful and avoid standing in areas with a yellow triangle sign, with a filled black circle in the middle - these indicate places with increased concentration of road accidents and are a part of a governmental campaign to improve driving safety.

Be wary of thieves - particularly in rural areas, there are many people who see a lone hitchhiker as an opportunity to gain by foul means.

Bulgaria is probably the most corrupted country of the EU, and you will most likely notice this at the border crossings. However, if you own the EU passport it is quite unlikely they will bother you.

When going towards Turkey, the most used border checkpoint is Capitan Andrevo. Check the Edirne article for more information. The checkpoint near Malko Tarnovo can also be used if you're coming from Burgas, although the traffic there is significantly less. It is recommended to cross the border in a personal car, since trucks border queue is usually slow, and the Turks might not like you walking around looking for another ride - especially if you do it at night.

When going towards Romania, biggest checkpoint is at Ruse. Try to get a ride with a personal car over the border.

Phrasebook

Vocabulary

Hitchhiking - автостоп [av-to-stop]

Motorway - магистрала [ma-gee-stra-la]

Petrol station - бензиностанция [ben-zee-no-stan-tsee-ya]

Ring road - околовръстно (шосе) [o-ko-lo-vrast-no (sho-sse)]

Map - карта [kar-ta]

Bus stop - (автобусна) спирка [(av-to-bus-na) speer-ka]

Greetings

Hello - Здравейте [Zdra-vey-te]

Good day - Добър ден [Do-bar den]

Good morning - Добро утро [Do-bro oot-ro]

Good evening - Добър вечер [Do-bar ve-cher]

Goodbye - Довиждане [Do-vizh-da-ne]

Bye - Чао - ciao (as in Italian)

Thank you - Благодаря [Bla-go-da-rya]

Thanks - Мерси - merci (as in French)

Directions

From - от [ot]

Towards - към [kam]

Through - през [prez]

(To the) left - (На) ляво [(Nah) lya-vo]

(To the) right - (На) дясно [(Nah) dyass-no]

Straignt on - Направо (Nah-pra-vo)

Where are you going to? - На къде отивате? [Na kade o-tee-va-te?]

I´m travelling to ... - Пътувам към ... [Pa-too-vam kam ...]

Please stop here - Моля, спрете тук [Mo-lya spre-te tuk]

A bit further - Малко по-напред [Mal-ko po na-pred]

Reading or writing signs in Cyrillic

Благоевград - Blagoevgrad

Бургас - Bourgas

Варна - Varna

Велико Търново - Veliko Tarnovo

Видин - Vidin

София - Sofia

Пловдив - Plovdiv

Русе - Russe

License plates

Car license plates can help you to figure out where the driver might be heading to. The registration code consists of two letters followed by four digits and then two more letters. The first two letters indicate the region where the car is registered. By recent regulations, the letters have been limited only to those that are found both within Cyrillic and Latin alphabet - this should make it easier for foreigners who have troubles of reading and understanding Cyrillic.

It should also be noted that this is not a 100% reliable method to get to know everything about the destination of the car, etc. It is common, for example, that cars registered in Sofia belong to people living in Burgas (or elsewhere).